The Aeroplanes - Broken Hearts And Maladies
Those with skank-addicted ears should skip straight to 'Don't Stop Me', with cascading guitar riffs driven by staccato beats.
It's hard to imagine a world without the Mersey's contribution to British music. From the landlocked cotton and gun metropolis to the urban sprawl that sits at the river's estuary, it would seem there might be something in the water. The problem is that when you have a lot of something, you often have very little of anything. The Aeroplanes manage to straddle the commercial/independent fence with a degree of success that is often missed in this day and age. More of a traditional indie rock outfit than many 'cooler' bands of the moment, they have been clever in their aim to appeal to a wide range of ages and exclude very few from their reach.
'You Don't Know' is the first track of any real worth. Whilst maintaining its predecessors' no frills attitude, the head bobbing, building guitar-led chorus track is a country mile better than most. You can almost see the North West swagger in 'Tonight', which perhaps keeps the local gig circuit sound that The Aeroplanes undoubtedly originate from more than most others on the album.
Those with skank-addicted ears should skip straight to 'Don't Stop Me', which is a good example of cascading guitar riffs being driven by staccato beats. 'This Is My Love' and 'Somebody Sleeping' cater for the downbeat moments, with the latter's guitar hook reminiscent of 'Everybody Hurts', and the track as a whole provides enough singalong moments to rival anything else in recent months.
'Rain At Your Door' polishes off this respectable outing with epic style, and is arguably the best on the disc, certainly in terms of innovation and experimentation. Beginning life in the position of 'big downbeat number', the second half of the track is the kind of frantic, huge sounding jam-like affair that almost makes you forget the album's more uninspiring moments.
Whatever you may think, one thing's for sure - if there's some highly accessible rock being made that exposes many for the fraudulent, uninspiring bores they really are, then something has been won.
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